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Syria witnessing a 'state of war', Assad tells cabinet

Syrian President Bashar al-Assad told his new cabinet on Tuesday that the country is in "a state of war" amid a continuing anti-regime uprising that began in March last year, the state-run SANA news agency reported.

AFP - Embattled Syrian President Bashar al-Assad said on Tuesday that his country, in the grips of an anti-regime uprising now in its 16th month, is in a "real situation of war."

"We are witnessing a real situation of war," state news agency SANA quoted him as telling a meeting of the new Syrian cabinet.

But Assad insisted that "when one is in a state of war, all our policies and capabilities must be used to secure victory."

His remarks came as the United States on Tuesday said that a "desperate" Assad was slowly losing his grip on power, citing recent defections of army officers and soldiers to neighbouring Turkey and Jordan.